Dion Fanning: These are days that are unexplainable and enriching. They have been as good as it gets

It was the most astonishing three days in Irish football since Ireland beat England in Stuttgart on a June Sunday in 1988 and Ronnie Whelan scored the extraordinary opening goal against the Soviet Union the following Wednesday

NO FILTER: Troy Parrott of Republic of Ireland celebrates with the match ball in the dressing room. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

There are so many parallel universes to the one that unfolded in the Puskas Arena on Sunday afternoon that to consider them all could lead to profound disorientation.

Even the moments leading to Troy Parrott’s winning goal could, with a step or two in a different direction, have led to a world more ordinary, an Irish football universe we are more familiar with.